Mary Gordon (writer)

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Mary Gordon

Mary Catherine Gordon (born December 8, 1949 in Queens , New York ) is an American writer . She is best known for her novels , literary criticism and autobiographical writings.

Life

Gordon was born in Far Rockaway , a neighborhood in the New York borough of Queens . Her mother was Irish - Italian and her father was of Jewish descent, but had already converted to Catholicism before she was born . The parental home was strictly Catholic. Her father's death in 1957 had a profound influence on the young Mary Gordon. Even as a child, she planned to become either a writer (her father's wish) or a nun . She grew up with her mother's family where she was rejected because of her Jewish background and love of books. She attended school at the Catholic Mary Louis Academy ; During this time she also began her writing. Her plans to attend Barnard College , an artistically and scientifically oriented college for women only, were initially rejected by those around her. However, she prevailed and completed her studies, which she had financed herself through odd jobs, in 1971.

During her studies Gordon first came into contact with political and feminist movements. She also continued to devote herself to literature; During this time she mainly wrote poetry . After graduation, she moved to Syracuse University , which she attended until shortly before completing her dissertation . She dropped out of her PhD to marry Professor Jim Brain, 30 years her senior, with whom she lived in London for a year . Soon after, Gordon separated from her husband again to move in with Arthur Cash, an equally old professor, whom she eventually married in 1979.

Her first novel, Final Payments , was published in the same year and received immediate critical acclaim, followed just two years later by The Company of Women . She earned her living teaching at Amherst College . In 1984 she signed the A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion campaign . After the birth of her two children, she published Men and Angels in 1985 , her most successful book to date. In 1989 she returned to Barnard College, where she has held a chair since then. In 2007 she was accepted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

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Mary Gordon not only writes novels, but also essays, short prose, autobiographical writings and biographies . She received the OB Hardison Award in 1991 for her biography of Jeanne d'Arc .

Recurring themes are conflicts between traditional values, such as strong faith or family structures, and more modern ones, such as feminism and individualism. Her literary roots are as much in the literature of the 19th century as in modern times . She is perceived by critics as an author who deals with Catholicism from a feminist perspective. A recurring constellation in her work is that of a strong daughter who rebels against her father's ideals. The Catholic foundations are not lost, although in her later works the focus is more on the relationship between women and art and society.

Gordon has repeatedly referred directly to his own family history with autobiographical writings. So busy The Shadow Man with disillusioning findings, it has gained over her prematurely deceased father to be his own wish, writers, it has affected their lives.

Bibliography (selection)

Novels

  • Final Payments , Random House, New York City 1979
  • The Company of Women (1981)
  • Men and Angels (1985)
  • The Other Side (1989)
  • Spending: A Utopian Divertimento (1998)
  • Pearl (2005)
  • The Love of My Youth (2011)

Volumes of stories

  • Temporary Shelter (1987)
  • The Rest of Life: Three Novellas (1993)
  • The Stories of Mary Gordon (2006, anthology)
  • The Liar's Wife (2014, four novels )

Autobiographical

  • The Shadow Man: A Daughter's Search For Her Father (1996)
  • Seeing Through Places: Reflections on Geography and Identity (2000)
  • Circling My Mother: A Memoir (2007)

Collection of essays

  • Good Boys and Dead Girls and Other Essays (1991)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Biography on columbia.edu ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , as seen on September 11, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.columbia.edu
  2. ↑ Academy Members. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed January 14, 2019 .
  3. ^ Biography of Judie Newman on jrank.org , accessed September 11, 2009

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Gordon, Mary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gordon, Mary Catherine (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Queens , New York